Senate Republicans Spent Months Promising They Won’t Gut Medicaid – But Their “Big, Ugly Betrayal” Cuts Nearly $1 TRILLION From Medicaid & Strips Coverage Away From 16 Million Americans, All To Pay For Tax Breaks For The Ultra-Wealthy

NOTUS: Josh Hawley Goes From ‘Don’t Cut Medicaid’ to Most Cuts Would ‘Be Fine’

NBC News: Republican Sen. Joni Ernst defends proposed Medicaid cuts: 'We all are going to die'

Newsweek: Mitch McConnell Says People Worried About Medicaid Cuts Will 'Get Over It'

Senate Republicans are gearing up to pass the largest cut to healthcare in American history in their “Big, Ugly Betrayal,” which would gut healthcare from 16 million Americans, decimate rural hospitals and nursing homes, kill almost a million jobs, and raise healthcare costs for everyone. And they are planning to vote for these cuts after months of making empty promises to protect these critical programs – saying they’re “not going to vote for Medicaid cuts” or “we all want to preserve Medicaid.” Right now, Republicans have another chance to rewrite their healthcare text and actually protect Americans’ healthcare, so we want to remind them of what they’ve been saying:

Senate Republicans:

Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY): “No one wants to cut anybody who Medicaid was designed to help.” [Semafor, 4/14/25]

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN): “What we are doing is strengthening Medicaid. There are no cuts.” … “These programs will be stronger and healthier than ever before.” [WBBJ, 6/5/25]

Sen. John Boozman (R-AR): “I’m very much not in favor of cutting benefits regarding Medicaid. Many of our states actually do live within balanced budgets. And to dump a huge multimillion, tens of millions, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars in unfunded mandates would be really difficult.” [Talk Business & Politics D.C. Edition, 5/19/25]

Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC): “We must strengthen & preserve Medicaid for those who it was intended for.” [Twitter, 6/5/25]

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA): “Give me a break. This is just fear-mongering from Democrats. No one’s losing health care.” [Twitter, 6/3/25]

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV): “I’ve talked at length to West Virginians, to the hospitals, to the nursing homes and to the state Medicaid office to understand how fully this can impact West Virginia. I’m not interested in cutting anybody’s benefits.” [Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 5/13/25]

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME): “I’ve said that if there are deep cuts in Medicaid that would endanger healthcare for low-income families, for disabled children, for other vulnerable populations, and for our rural hospitals, I’m simply not going to support that.” [Maine Public Radio, 5/27/25]

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX): “I think the consensus is there should not be any cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid.” [Bloomberg TV Interview, 0:09 - 0:14, 5/6/25]

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT): “Republicans are trying to save Medicaid. We want to strengthen Medicaid.” [Fox News Interview, 0:33 - 0:37, 6/17/25]

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA): “We will protect them. Okay? Medicaid is extremely important here in the state of Iowa.” [Town Hall, 42:53 - 43:01, 5/30/25]

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA): “Medicaid would not be cut, he says, for those who need it, ‘the very vulnerable in our society.’” [Radio Iowa, 5/6/25]

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO): “I’m not going to vote for Medicaid cuts, benefits cuts.” [Daily Caller, 0:19 - 0:22, 2/26/25]

Sen. John Husted (R-OH): “I think we all are united in the fact that we need to save Medicaid.” [Hugh Hewitt Show Interview, 1:31:24 - 1:31:27, 5/15/25]

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): “We all want to preserve Medicaid.” [NOTUS, 5/21/25]

Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV): “None of us want to cut benefits.” [Semafor, 3/21/25]

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA): “I’m not worried about people losing their healthcare.” [Associated Press, 0:47 - 0:51, 2/26/25]

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK): “No one is cutting Medicaid—Republicans are preserving it.” [Twitter, 6/5/25]

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY): “I believe we should protect this program [Medicaid] while ensuring its long-term sustainability through responsible financial management.” [Wyoming Tribune Eagle, 5/7/25]

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS): “We need to strengthen and preserve Medicaid for those who need it the most. As a physician, as an obstetrician, we took care of everybody regardless of their ability to pay. And I want everyone to have meaningful access to primary care, and Medicaid provides that. So, we’re certainly not going to touch seniors, we’re not going to touch people with disabilities.” [CNBC Interview, 2:51 - 3:10, 6/11/25]

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA): “A spokesperson for Sen. McCormick said: ‘Senator Dave McCormick has made it clear he will protect the Medicaid benefits of the vulnerable populations for whom the program was designed.’” [CBS Philadelphia, 5/28/25]

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH): “Republicans are not going to cut Medicaid benefits at all.” [WEWS Interview, 2:15 - 2:18, 2/25/25]

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK): “We’re not looking at actually doing reforms to Medicaid.” [NOTUS, 5/21/25]

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): “I did not support Medicaid cuts back then, and I’m not going to be supporting Medicaid cuts now.” [Address to the Alaska State Legislature, 31:16 - 31:22, 3/18/25]

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE): “Nebraska U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts is reassuring Nebraska Medicaid recipients that beneficiaries will not have their benefits cut as congress goes through the budget reconciliation process.” [WJAG, 5/15/25]

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO): “I don’t support any cuts to benefits for Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.” [Missourinet, 5/1/25]

Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT): “A spokesperson for Sen. Sheehy said: ‘Senator Sheehy is committed to protecting Medicaid and Social Security. Full stop.’” [KXLF, 3/6/25]

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK): “In an interview with Alaska’s News Source, Sen. Dan Sullivan says no cuts are coming to Medicaid.” … “‘I’m actually working on some of the provisions in this bill. I’ve been working on them for years to strengthen our Medicaid approach with regard to the federal government, and I think right now, it’s looking good,’ Sullivan explained.” [Alaska’s News Source, 6/24/25]

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL): “U.S. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said the Medicaid program is ‘one of the few things that actually helps people.’ ‘We don’t want to destroy our health care system in one night, and that’s what it would do,’ Tuberville said about potential cuts.” [Alabama Daily News, 3/26/25]

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